•1960: ‘Minimalism’ originated from an artistic movement in New York as an

indicator of economic cycles and technological development

•Development of 20th century: Minimalism started underpinning every social
development, even before the official start of the minimalist movement
•Backlashes against feminism in 1950s and 1980s returned hyper-feminine look
(like Dior) which was overturned by avant-garde designers guided by reductivist
mode
•Early minimalism in art rejected tradition of craftsmanship and opted for raw
materials instead
• The Japanese designers like Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo in
the 1980s followed similar path by sending down the runway clothing in
unconventional fabrics like polyester, PVC, Lycra etc., baggy silhouettes and
layering of distressed fabrics, not often found in Western fashion characterized
with elegance and artisanal craftsmanship of haute couture 
•Minimalism of this decade was also a way of escaping gender stereotypes. It
removed the idea of gender by covering up or revealing the body in new ways and
challenged traditional perceptions of sexiness
•In the 1980’s, two different types of minimalism emerged.
The large designer houses, such as Donna Karan and Armani,
opted for chic and clean purism
Emerging designers and smaller labels continued by moving
minimalism into more conceptual direction
•The next stage of minimalism was born: deconstructionism.
Reduction of the garment to the extreme of its fundamental parts
would be the most basic understanding of the concept.
•Late 1980s and 1990s: Mainstream fashion started adopting
Minimalism, with American designers like Donna Karan and Calvin
Klein taking the lead, with design directives of comfort, ease and
practicality for modern working women
•Post-minimalism was a far cry from power look of the previous
decade, and unlike the European (Maison Martin Margiela, Ann
Demeulemeester, Helmut Lang) and Japanese (Comme des Garcons,
Issey Miyake) version of minimalism of the 90s focused more than
ever on the female body than on the clothes themselves.
•Late 1990s: attachment to androgyny arose again. Hussein
Chalayan’s intellectual, scientific approach to fashion brought a
transformative and futuristic aspect to minimalism, that was more
concerned with what body can achieve than how it looks like
•In 2007, the financial system became unstable, and fashion buying
habits started changing again.
• While minimalism of past was always connected to various social,
political and cultural shifts, the movement of the 21st century is
more impacted by the economics.
•We have less money to spend on clothing and want to spend it on
pieces that won’t be outdated already next season. Minimal pieces
always stay contemporary.
•Rising concern for ethical and environmental aspects of fashion.
Minimalism became a responsible way of fashion consumption and
aesthetic that pervaded the fashion consciousness, with designers as
Stella McCartney, and Phoebe Philo for Celine leading the way.